Jason Chu has made the venture here today from Northern California this weekend, now sitting with a 7-0-1 record he is looking pretty good for the Top 32 Cut. His opponent is Aaron Furman, a New Jersey Duelist who is no stranger from the YCS Day 2 but is sitting at a 7-1 record needing to win at least one of his next two rounds rather than to makeit. Both Duelists are using variants of Nekroz, Chu choosing to use Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz for additional combos and outs while Furman is using a more mainlined version.

Furman won the roll and chose for his opponent to go first, implying that he is playing Nekroz.

Duel One:

Chu opened with a hand of Reinforcement of the Army, Maxx “C”, Preparation of Rites, Nekroz of Clausolas, and Djinn Releaser of Rituals. He activated Nekroz of Clausolas, adding Nekroz Cycle to his hand, using it to Special Summon the Nekroz of Clausolas he just discarded by sending Djinn Releaser of Rituals from his hand as cost.

Furman drew and slammed Book of Eclipse on the table before Normal Summoning Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, adding Nekroz of Valkyrus to his hand. He then discarded Nekroz of Clausolas to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope, but when he activated it Chu Chained Maxx “C” to give Furman the difficult decision of whether or not to push through. Furman took a moment to now reconsider which Ritual he would Summon off the Nekroz Kaleidoscope, ultimately sending Herald of the Arch Light to Special Summon Nekroz of Unicore which netted Chu a Preparation of Rites off of his Maxx “C” draw. Furman activated Herald of the Arch Light, adding Nekroz Mirror to his hand, then discarded Nekroz of Brionac to add Nekroz of Trishula; he activated the Nekroz Mirror, banishing Nekroz of Brionac and Nekroz of Clausolas from his Graveyard to Special Summon Nekroz of Trishula, banishing Chu’s Nekroz of Clausolas from the Field, Nekroz Cycle from his Graveyard, and Preparation of Rites from his hand. Chu drew another copy of Maxx “C” from the Special Summon. Furman swung with all of his Monsters to put Chu down to 1600 Life Points before ending.

Chu drew yet another copy of Maxx “C”. He couldn’t do much, and simply Set Mystical Space Typhoon before ending his turn attempting to bluff Nekroz of Valkyrus or Book of Eclipse.

Furman drew and slammed his Nekroz of Unicore on top of his Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands to Xyz Summon Diamond Dire Wolf, using its effect to destroy itself and Chu’s Set Mystical Space Typhoon. He swung directly with Nekroz of Trishula, and without a way to stop it Chu conceded.

After a fairly one sided game, Furman manages to seize control fairly early after capitalizing with Book of Eclipse. Can Chu manage to take the back two?

Chu chose for Furman to go first in the second Duel.

Duel Two:

Furman started off by Normal Summoning Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, using its effect to add Nekroz of Brionac which he then discarded to add Nekroz of Unicore. He Set three to his back row before ending.

Chu opened with a hand of Nekroz of Unicore, Nekroz Cycle, Nekroz of Clausolas, Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz, Nekroz Kaleidoscope, and drew Preparation of Rites for turn. He activated Preparation of Rites, but Furman had Shared Ride in response to slow Chu down! Chu added Nekroz of Brionac once the Preparation of Rites resolved and passed not wanting to give Furman more cards.

Furman drew and immediately used Nekroz of Unicore to add back Nekroz of Brionac from his Graveyard. He then Normal Summoned Djinn Releaser of Rituals and declared direct attacks with it along with Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, after clarifying that Chu was at 5400 Life Points and Setting a back row he ended.

Chu drew Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands for turn; he started off by discarding Nekroz of Brionac but Furman had a newly Set Shared Ride to put Chu in a bad position once again. Nekroz of Brionac resolved, Chu added Nekroz of Valkyrus letting Furman draw a card, but when he tried to activate Nekroz Kaleidoscope Furman responded with Vanity’s Emptiness! Chu was now forced to Normal Summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, using its effect to add Nekroz of Brionac and give Furman another card, then declared an attack over Djinn Releaser of Rituals, destroying the Vanity’s Emptiness as well, before ending; now wide open to Nekroz of Trishula but hopefully safe from losing thanks to Nekroz of Valkyrus.

Furman drew and contemplated his options before discarding Nekroz of Brionac in order to add Nekroz of Clausolas which he then ditched to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope; he activated Nekroz Kaleidoscope sending Herald of the Arch Light from his Extra Deck to the Graveyard to Special Summon Nekroz of Unicore, getting to add Nekroz Cycle off of the Herald’s effect. He then activated Nekroz Cycle, banishing Djinn Releaser of Rituals for cost, to Special Summon Nekroz of Clausolas from his Graveyard. He slammed down Raigeki, clearing away Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands before attempting to declare a direct attack with Nekroz of Clausolas, prompting Chu to use his Nekroz of Valkyrus, banishing Nekroz of Brionac, to end the Battle Phase.

Chu drew Nekroz of Decisive Armor for turn, then banished Nekroz Kaleidoscope along with Nekroz of Valkyrus to add Nekroz Mirror to his hand. He then discarded Nekroz of Brionac, adding Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz to his hand. He Normal Summoned Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz, trying to attack over Nekroz of Clausolas, but lost out to Furman’s Book of Moon! He passed without any further actions.

Furman drew to three cards in hand, murmuring about Life Points under his breath trying to calculate a way to win the Duel this turn. He declared an attack with Nekroz of Clausolas over the Set Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz, then directly with both Senju of the Thousand Hands and Nekroz of Unicore but had Nekroz of Decisive Armor to deal additional damage before Xyz Summoning Gagaga Cowboy for game!

Showing some Nekroz mastery, Furman takes a fairly quick series of games over Chu to move on with a 8-1 record, basically guaranteed for Top 32!